Ayreon: The first highlight remastered

Ayreon – Electric Castle 20th Anniversary Re-Issue

Some people have a gift and know how to use it and Arjen Lucassen is one of them. It was already obvious on his first album The Final Experiment that we could expect a lot more from this virtuous and talented musician. On the second album Actual Fantasy there were a step forward but we still waited for more to come. And that came on the next album Into The Electric Castle.

The first real highlight was without any doubt Into The Electric Castle, the album with the most variation until now. This landmark should be known to everyone that claims to know a lot about progressiv metal and really fancy this music style. Now the album is remixed and remastered into the Electric Castle 20th Anniversary Re-Issue by the master himself Arjen Lucassen. The new version is not yet out, so until further you must pau attention to 1998 version.

Into The Electric Castle is a spectacular record that has been lovingly remixed and remastered to make it even more mesmerizing and with the re-issue packaging is one that not only any Ayreon fan will love, any fan of adventurous music will probably also adore the music. The music comes out on 3LP, 5-disc Earbook and Limited Edition Castle Box Set on October 26th, 2018.

Talking about the significance of this album Arjen Lucassen explains; Although my first Ayreon album, The Final Experiment released in 1995, was an (unexpected) success, my second album, Actual Fantasy, wasn’t received with the same enthusiasm. So I had to make sure that my third release would be absolutely mind-blowing, otherwise it could well have meant the end of Ayreon! Fortunately I had written a lot of material that I was happy with, enough for a double album.

Even though it was a bit risky, I decided to make it a no-holds barred, totally over-the-top musical adventure. I poured my heart and soul into it, investing everything I had both financially and creatively, and enlisted the best instrumentalists and singers that I could find in the world at that time.

When making this album I was unconstrained by any musical or stylistic boundaries, and incorporated many of my favorite musical styles. Into the Electric Castle received an overwhelmingly positive reception from both the press and the fans. This firmly established the Ayreon name, making Ayreon the perfect project to pour all of my time and creative energy into.